The Spalding County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to pass its fiscal year 2009 budget and insisted that the agreement it originally proposed to the city in regard to the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) stand.

The budget was passed with a minimum of discussion. Then the commissioners moved on to the second agenda item - the SPLOST.

According to County Manager William Wilson Jr., the city is concerned that the money it would receive under the agreement reached on June 16 could be insufficient for its needs. A discussion between city and county officials on Thursday spawned two alternative proposals.

One would involve annexation of the Big Shanty property by the city, while the other would not include annexation but would reduce the funds earmarked for county transportation needs to approximately $3.85 million.

If the city does not sign an intergovernmental agreement with the county, the county can only levy a five-year SPLOST and revenues must be divided according to the population - 40 percent of the revenue for the city and 60 percent for the county. This would not be enough for the Griffin-Spalding Development Authority’s (GSDA) purchase of the Big Shanty property and the amount of money proposed for Griffin Technical College.

The Spalding County Board of Commissioners rejected both alternative plans. Although Commissioner Eddie Freeman said he would support annexation if it is absolutely necessary to get the intergovernmental agreement before the Monday deadline, Commissioner Gwen Flowers-Taylor and Commissioner Dave Phillips opposed the two alternative measures.

“I’m totally against any intergovernmental agreement that has annexation attached,” Flowers-Taylor said.

She said that as a representative of the people, she would not be browbeaten into an agreement.

“If we don’t meet the September 16th date, so be it,” she said.

Phillips expressed his opposition in harsher terms.

“It’s blackmail, pure and simple,” he said. “I don’t care if you sugar-coat it and put sprinkles on it, it’s not a cupcake, it’s something you find in a cow pasture.”

He questioned the likelihood of the SPLOST passing and said that putting preconditions on it will alienate voters. He emphasized that there is only a limited window of opportunity to purchase the Big Shanty property and that all the development plans in the world will not matter if the land is not purchased.

Flowers-Taylor said that if the SPLOST will not provide the funds to purchase the land, the county might have to bear that burden. Phillips said that a more limited SPLOST could buy the land and another SPLOST could be called later to raise the development funds.

Flowers-Taylor said alternative proposals could be discussed at a later meeting. The county commissioners left the earlier intergovernmental agreement in the city’s hands.

Griffin Mayor Doug Hollberg came to the podium to defend the city’s position on the matter.

“We are not trying to blackmail the county commission,” he said.

He said the city supports the SPLOST and the GSDA but wants a fair, equitable division of the monies raised by the SPLOST.

The Griffin Board of Commissioners will vote on whether or not to accept the original intergovernmental agreement at 10 a.m. today at One Griffin Center.